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National

  • Relaxed Nadal moves toward another Grand Slam win

    MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — If Rafael Nadal is getting nervous as he eases closer to winning his fourth consecutive Grand Slam, he sure isn't showing it.

    After his 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 win Thursday over American qualifier Ryan Sweeting, the Spanish star appeared as comfortable talking about his next match — against 18-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic — as he was in beating Sweeting so convincingly.

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  • Bears-Packers: Fans say it's the biggest game ever

    CHICAGO (AP) — The Green Bay Packers are headed to town for the NFC championship game and Chicago Bears fans are starting to become, well, a bit unbearable.

    Turn on the radio in Chicago and you'll hear no shortage of jokes about Packers fans, many of which have something to do with low intelligence. There's been plenty of laughs over a Green Bay newspaper headline that read "On To Chicaco." Many more center on the dietary habits of fans north of the "Cheddar Curtain," like this one:

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  • Tennis: Federer edges Simon in 5 sets at Australian Open

    MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Defending champion Roger Federer admitted he was lucky to escape with a victory at the Australian Open on Wednesday, edging Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round.

    Early on it seemed as if Simon, who had beaten Federer in their only two previous meetings, would send the Swiss star packing out of a Grand Slam before the third round for the first time since the French Open in 2003 — a total of 31 majors.

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  • Football: NFL players' union files collusion claim

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The NFL players' union filed a collusion claim against the league's owners, another move in the back-and-forth between the sides as they near the expiration of their labor contract.

    The union originally had until December — 90 days after the start of the season — to accuse teams of conspiring to restrict players' salaries last offseason, but the league agreed to extend that deadline.

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  • Tennis: Mother's 'fight' plea pays off for Venus

    MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Venus Williams was in the middle of a first-set tiebreaker at the Australian Open on Wednesday when her mother yelled some encouragement from the players' box at Rod Laver Arena.

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  • Tennis: Even for generous Clijsters, no charity for Safina

    MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Kim Clijsters is one of the friendliest players on the women's tour. Cheery in the locker room, generous, polite.

    That's off the court.

    She learned by losing three Grand Slam finals that intensity is essential to winning a major, something she's hoping to do outside the United States for the first time.

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  • Cam Do! Auburn wins BCS title 22-19 over Oregon

    GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Auburn running back Michael Dyer never heard any whistle, so he just kept running — past the tackler who thought he had him down and deep into Oregon territory.

    Dyer broke stride, then took off on a once-in-a-lifetime run in the final minutes, setting up a short field goal on the last play that led No. 1 Auburn over the No. 2 Ducks 22-19 in the BCS championship game Monday night.

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  • The playoffs: more fun than texting...

    Bad news.
    Brett Favre is going to retire.
    Maybe.
    For a good percentage of the football fans I know, that’s incentive enough not to watch the NFL playoffs. A playoff season without Favre is like a night without stars or a hotel room without an attractive masseuse.

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  • Cowboys pick Jason Garrett as 8th head coach

    IRVING, Texas (AP) — Jason Garrett nailed his audition. He gets to remain coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

    A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that Garrett will be announced as the new head coach at a news conference at Cowboys Stadium on Thursday afternoon. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the decision.

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  • Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven elected to Hall of Fame

    NEW YORK (AP) — After a narrow miss last year, Bert Blyleven told voters they finally got it right by sending him into the Hall of Fame along with Roberto Alomar.

    And he took the opportunity to talk about baseball's dark past — the Steroids Era.

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